Author(s)

Jamilla Viana Silva Asfora¹, Márcio Bittar Nehemy², Diego Nery Benevides Gadelha¹, Carlos Teixeira Brandt^1*

¹Medical School, UNIFACISA, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil.
²Ophthalmology, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Purpose: To investigate the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in obese by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) and to evaluate the findings of structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) and their relations with comorbidities. Methods: It was included 35 obese (study group) and 30 normal individuals (control group). Patients with retinal diseases and retinal treatments were excluded. The images were obtained using the Topcon^®;. Results: The mean areas of FAZ in superficial plexus (FAZ-SP) and deep plexus (FAZ-DP) were significantly greater in the study group: FAZ-SP was 405.0 ± 136.4 μm² in the obese group and 307.3 ± 78.6 μm² in the control group and in the left eye (LE) 477.1 ± 124.4 μm² in the obese group and 384.0 ± 88.7 μm² in the control group. This difference was statistically significant (RE: p = 0.0014 and LE: p = 0.0012). The mean area of the FAZ-DP was 491.0 ± 124.4 μm² (Right eye—RE) in the obese group and 384.4 ± 88.7 μm2 in the control group and in the left eye (LE) was 497.9 ± 124.1 μm² in the obese group and 484.9 ± 92.7 μm² in the control group. There were no correlations regarding FAZ-SP and FAZ-DP in both eyes with fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol and fractions and triglycerides. A significant association between enlargement of FAZ-DP and type 2 diabetes mellitus (p = 0.0160) was observed. Conclusion: The FAZ areas in superficial and deep plexus achieved significantly greater values in the study group. There was a significant association between a larger deep FAZ area and type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is necessary an evaluation with a larger sample size to corroborate the findings.

Obesity, Retina, Fovea Centralis, Retinal Vessels, Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Asfora, J. , Nehemy, M. , Gadelha, D. and Brandt, C. (2021) Obese Foveal Avascular Zone Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography of the Retina: Is There a Relation to Comorbities?. Open Journal of Ophthalmology, 11, 176-190. doi: 10.4236/ojoph.2021.112014.